Sports Page 10 • POY: Corey Olivet • POY: Greta Wagner El Gato • Friday, May 23, 2014 • www.elgatonews.com Badminton succeeds Player of the year Corey Olivet by Ari Sweedler by Ruth Murai People Editor The LGHS badminton team fought tough battles this year, winning 4 out of their 12 matches. The team looks forward to sending their top players in each category to CCS playoffs. Junior Demi Chang will represent LGHS for girls singles, senior Richard Lui for boys singles, senior Paul Tolley and senior Nick Miller for boys doubles, junior Eugenia Huang and junior Katie Czinski for girls doubles, and junior Vincent Tran and junior Allison Rong for mixed doubles. The badminton team trained tirelessly under the guidance of coach David Chang and his new fitness regime. According to Lui, the extra work definitely paid off this year. When badminton games start running long, the player with more heart and better fitness starts to win more and more of the points. Last year, Lui played varsity 1, the highest level of varsity badminton as a junior, and lost to the Mountain View Varsity 1 boys singles player 15-0, 15-1 in two games. This year, though, Lui showed just how much he has improved by beating the very same player 23-21, 21-19. Captain of the badminton team, Chang, looks forward to another season of CCS competition. Last year, as a sophomore, Chang placed fourth in the league, just as she did freshman year. This year, though, things have changed, with some of Chang’s former opponents having graduated high school. The whole team looks forward to Chang’s success. Tennis ends fighting by Sean Clark Humor Editor On Apr. 29 and 30 the boys tennis team ventured to Mountain View High School for the annual Santa Clara Valley Athletic League tournament, also known as SCVAL’s. The Varsity team won three rounds, but lost in the fourth, earning them a second place title. The Junior Varsity team was not as fortunate, and lost in the first round with one win by freshman Jacob Klatt. The varsity team moved on to the Central Coast Section tournament, otherwise known as CCS. The team lost in the first round against St. Ignatius High School at Golden Gate Park, with one game won by doubles pair freshman Tommy Seaman and sophomore Dylan Moradpour. With that, the boys’ season came to a close. Sophomore varsity player Moradpour summarized the fighting spirit of the tennis team when he said, “Our season was extremely active, we had a great group of guys playing, all of whom never lost hope even when we were down and out.” People Editor Thirteen years ago, senior Corey Olivet’s life changed when he stepped onto the baseball diamond for the first time. The other little boys who made up Olivet’s team would eventually leave the sport; every season fewer and fewer returned as the sports’ nature became increasingly competitive. Now a senior just ending his last year playing competitively with LGHS, Corey is one of the last remaining of the five-yearolds who were present thirteen years ago, and is one of the few nationwide who has signed with a Divison 1 team, in his case for San Jose State University. Although a team sport, baseball is unique in the pressure it places on the individual to perform, an obstacle that, while admittedly difficult, contributes to Olivet’s passion for the sport. As a pitcher, one of Olivet’s greatest challenges has been the intense competition between the pitcher and the hitter, “It is the hitter v. the pitcher, one v. one. I don’t think there’s any other sport quite like baseball. The game really tests how strong of a person you are.” Olivet trains with the LGHS team every day during season for two to four hours, often staying after the practice officially ends to continue practicing his hits again and again. “The only way to succeed in baseball is by preparing yourself beforehand. A swing is very mechanical and if you don’t have the mechanics of the game down, you’ll never succeed,” Olivet said. The hours of practice that Olivet puts in all contribute to his success on the team. Olivet was an essential part of LGHS’ success this year as the 2014 League Champions, a huge accomplishment for the seniors of the team as they say goodbye to LGHS in their final months. Throughout his years as a member of the LGHS team, Olivet has learned, “In baseball the hardest part is checking your emotions. Baseball is a game of failures and for those who don’t cope with failing well, this game will tear you apart.” While baseball is the sport that occupies his spring, Olivet spends his falls focused on football as a wide receiver. Olivet’s football career began as a freshman, and he stuck with the sport his sophomore and senior years. “My favorite thing about football is the unity of the team you’re on and game days on Friday nights under the lights,” Olivet said. He trains with his team every day during the fall, including weight training and lunch, which he spends watching video with his teammates. For Olivet, the most difficult component of football has been the physicality of the sport. “My advice to football players is to play to your strong points because every position possesses different qualities. As long as you give your photo courtesy C. Olivet 100 percent and aren’t afraid to get physical. If you don’t like physical sports, do not play football,” Olivet says. In the thirteen years since Olivet began his athletic career, he has grown not only in his physical capabilities, but also mentally in his capacity to be a leader for the teams that depend on him to perform. “Corey is always confident in himself and in our team as a whole,” said senior Campbell Robertson, Olivet’s long-time teammate, “as a captain, he’s a good leader and he always gives one hundred percent.” Olivet is player of the year not only because of the outstanding contributions he has made as an athlete, but as a friend, and above all a teammate. Player of the year Greta Wagner by Rheagan Rizio Sports Editor photos courtesy M. Reynolds Aquatic sports end by Natalie Domengeaux News Editor League trials for the LGHS swimming team took place recently. The results from the third day of swimming league trials were impressive. Each Los Gatos team subset (Varsity girls, Junior Varsity girls, Varsity boys and Junior Varsity boys) performed very well. Our Varsity girls amazed with a first place ranking. Junior Varsity girls excelled as well, claiming second place. Varsity boys competed valiantly, earning fourth place, while Junior Varsity boys placed second, a very impressive achievement. The other teams present at league trials, Palo Alto, Gunn, Monta Vista, Los Altos, Homestead, and Saratoga, were tough competitors. However, the LGHS swim team dominated in various events and ended the trials with many victories. More importantly, the team has formed a special bond that comes with their many hours of hard work and dedication to the sport and to each other. LGHS divers recently competed in leagues, the year’s most intense meet next to CCS. Freshman Cyril Boboricken placed fifth in the highest level of competition for boys, 11 dive varsity. Similarly, freshman Sabrina Chan and sophomore Sammie Walker earned fourth and sixth place the girls eleven dive meet. Sophomore Kendall Davis and Senior Tiana Hinkin also competed, placing tenth and eighteenth. Freshmen Ariel Schrelman and Neema Lofti placed third and sixth in the demanding boys eight dive competition. As for the girls eight dive meet, freshman Kaitlin Rhind, freshman Rachel Yost, sophomore Kira O’Shelski, and junior AJ Dimick placed sixth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth respectively. Hinkin commented, “Although diving was new to me, my skills developed quickly throughout the season. I got a lot out of dive because the team was so close and that made the season twice as good The team was like a second family for me.” Like Hinkin, the other members of the LGHS dive team had a fantastic season. Divers old and new reached new heights in practice and in competition, and made the school very proud. Senior Greta Wagner appears to be a typical teenage girl: she likes such things as shopping and hanging out with friends, enjoys watching television, loves her dog Lacey. But in the world of track and field, Wagner is far from typical. Wagner began participating in track and field in eighth grade. She competed in gymnastics for years, and she eventually decided she wanted to do something different, therefore switching to track and field. When she first began, she participated in long distance events. She got her inspiration to start doing distance from her older brother and LGHS graduate, Ben Wagner, who participated in it as well. She focused on distance during eighth and ninth grade, participating in both track and field and cross country, and began pole vaulting the summer before her sophomore year. She was immediately drawn to this event, and gave up running in distance events, switching to sprinting instead. One thing that really appeals to Wagner about pole vaulting is how different it is from other track and field events. “It’s a lot of fun to do,” says Wagner. “You get to see how much you can push yourself. And you can do that with running too, but pole vaulting is pushing yourself in a very different way. If you really work at it, it becomes its own little world.” She also values the people that she has met through it and the friendships she has made. Wagner’s statistics are quite impressive. The highest she has ever jumped is thirteen feet two inches (the current world record is sixteen feet seven inches). In terms of competition success, she won CCS last year, and got second place in the state meet. She is currently second in the state again this year. She was tenth in the nation in 2013. Wagner’s dedication to her sport has paid off, and next year she will be attending UCLA to compete on their track and field team in pole vaulting. Wagner is very excited about going to UCLA, and hopes that this opportunity will help her get to more national and elite levels. “The UCLA team has been very promising in the past,” she says. “The team is not really good, but it is also very close.” She looks forward to being pushed while on the team. With Wagner’s dedication and impressive skill level at such a young age, she certainly has a promising future in the sport. photos courtesy G. Wagner
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